lfs-book/chapter05/binutils-exp.xml

<sect2>
<title>Command explanations</title>

<para>
<userinput>make -e:</userinput> The -e paramater tells make that
environment variables take precedence over variables defined in the
Makefile file(s). This is needed in order to successfully link binutils
statically.
</para>

<para>
<userinput>LDFLAGS=-all-static:</userinput> Setting the variable LDFLAGS
to the value -all-static causes binutils to be linked statically.
</para>

<para>
<userinput>tooldir=$LFS/usr:</userinput> Normally the tooldir (the
directory where the executables from binutils end up in) is set to
$(exec_prefix)/$(target_alias) which expands into, for example, 
/usr/i686-pc-linux-gnu. Since we only build for our own system we don't
need this target specific directory in $LFS/usr. You would use that
setup if you use your system to cross-compile (for example you would
compile a package on your Intel machine that generates code that can be
executed on Apple PowerPC machines).
</para>

</sect2>